I'm about to embark on packaging a VM using FreeBSD, I know this Linux OS distribution isn't listed on VMware studio, but I wanted to ask the following questions: -

Is it possible to add FreeBSD as a custom profile for packaging, has anyone done this and can you pass on your experiences good or bad?

Also has anyone got as far as including the application installation for a VM using FreeBSD, I know this is in TAR format which is supported, again has anyone done this and can you pass on your experiences?

Finally, I see with the latest version of Studio you can take an already created VM and conver this into a Virtual Appliance. Again, has anyone tried this with FreeBSD and if so how did it go?

Would really appreciate some feedback on the above questions. If FreeBSD (supported guest OS from VMware) isn't compatible with Studio, what other options are there for packaging? I'm keen for the VAMI integration for web based management and updates, are there any other options?

I've browsed the Virtual Appliance Marketplace and found FreeBSD available for download so there are options...

This is probably obvious, but anything listed in the vCenter/ESX(i) compatibility list for supported guest OSes can be made into a VM. Of course, VMware Studio may not be the tool to use to create those VMs. If you are going to deploy RHEL4-based machines for example you aren't going to use VMware Studio. Sounds like you are in that sphere of operations to me. With RHEL4 a kickstart-based VM had to be created (no VMware Studio). YMMV...

So basically, the only way to package a Virtual app for a Linux OS that is not supported by OVT Tool or VMware Studio is by constructing the VM to self configure on first bootup and then export the VM into OVx format using ESX host?

I just want to know if there are any other tools out there that will support Monolithic Kernels like FreeBSD?